BEAUTIFUL FALL

A hot dish of golden potatoes, left-over franks, real butter, and home-grown chives served with crusty whole-wheat bread…



A peek-a-boo boy…



Transitioning from bike to car for the upcoming cold winds and icy roads…



The beginning of THE FAMILY SEASON…



The last weeks of cool clear water…Before it turns in to beautiful crystallized ice…



A beginning of the SEASON OF HOLIDAYS! The time for celebration, family, rejoicing, and a time to turn our hearts to He who created this beautiful Earth…He, to whom we own our thanks for the blessings that we enjoy…



A time of service…Extra special service to those we love and to those who just need a smile...Or a friend...Or a warm plate of cookies....



FALL…

A time of harvest…



And long walks amongst the trees and falling leaves…





FALL…

A time to bring the outside goodness into our homes…



To smell the scents of autumn sweetness...



Which will then carry us into the upcoming season of the deliciousness of apples and cinnamon…



Mulberries and roasted turkeys…



Have a blessed weekend…And search for the beauty around you.

IT'S FALL TIME!

FALL…BEAUTIFUL FALL

In conjunction with taking Elliott back to school, we traveled the extra four hours to Salt Lake to see our other dear daughter, Keira and boyfriend Nate.

GOOD EARTH…

While there, we ate at a favorite place of ours…Good Earth Café

It has organic vegetarian and vegan food that is absolutely YUMMY!



They used to have big pillows to sit on in one room…

A couch and chair in another…And fun things like that.

For some reason, they went to tables, which isn’t as fun…

But the food is still great!





I love that each room has a different theme…



I think that that was the whole concept in its conception…



Please excuse all the blurry pictures…

I still can’t seem to get this camera figured out…:/



It was little Adrien’s fourth birthday, so we celebrated with a vegan carrot cake…

I am not normally a carrot cake fan, but OH MY GOODNESS, was it good!

The neat thing about this place is that you pay what you feel that the food is worth…

And, at the end of the night, they set the left-overs outside for the homeless…Oh, I love things like that!



A THEATER TOUR…



Nate is a projectionist, so we were lucky enough to get the grand tour and presentation to boot!



Nate explaining a few things to Steve before we entered the projection room…



The room has to be hospital clean…



I was in a projection booth many many years ago…

It’s a tad different now…:)



School children come through for tours, so this worked out perfectly since we had some littles…



Julian especially liked it…



They still use 35 mm film on their non-digital machines, which really surprised me…



It’s not reel-to-reel, however, like it used to be…

They splice all of the reels together…



Onto big platters…



So, there is not interruption in the movie…

Their theater has digital machines currently but is going all digital in just a few months…



I didn’t know the difference until Nate had us look at a regular movie and then a digital…

The latter was a lot more clear, and the colors and picture were more crisp…



The view from above…



The little boys thought it was really neat…







Steve…



Elliott and Christian…



We all had a really fun time and learned a lot as well…

I hope you all have a blessed week~

A VERY BUSY SUMMER...PART TWO

SO…How was YOUR summer?



The season seems to go SO fast!...At least here in the four-seasons’ country…

I hope at least...

You made time for fun…





Were able to slow down...



That you took time to contemplate...





To sit a spell...



To figure out the pieces of your life...



I hope that you made time to enjoy the companionship of family...



Even if the children were tired...;)





SOME HAPPENINGS IN MY SUMMER…PART TWO



PUTTING MY DOG DOWN…

I had to put Hercules down on July 25…

That is never an easy thing to do, especially after I waited so long for the little guy...

But, as we all know…

Life isn’t always easy…



MANY MANY HOURS AT WORK...
.
.
.
MANY LONG HOURS WITHOUT SLEEP…

Because I work nights and also work some days...

The last several weeks have been very busy…

Trying to organize my schedule!

I just finished 80 hours with only 2 hours and 45 minutes of sleep…:/

But, it will be better from here on out, I am sure...:0)

It must!

Otherwise...

You know what they say...

Work your fingers to the bone...

Whada Ya Get???



Bony fingers! Ha Ha!



A SAYING THAT I LIKE…

"I hate when people punch my abs, and they break their hand."



Ha Ha Ha! Now, I only wish it were true!



AN ONGOING CHALLENGE…



For quite a few years now…

Nine to be exact…

I have wanted to return to school...



The Lord has closed those doors to me, in a very real way. I know that He has a plan, but it has been very hard to have the faith that I need to have. If I can’t go back to school to either change and/or better myself for my professions, I would love to be a full-time homemaker…

My home is where my heart REALLY and TRULY is at…It is in my every fiber, and I must admit that I get jealous of the ladies who are privileged to stay home…

Jealousy is not good, I know…I do hope that they realize their great blessing, though.

I really need to get stronger and have more faith….

And…That is what I am working on. :0)



HERBS!...

I have so been enjoying watching my beautiful organic herbs grow! I love them! I didn’t cut them back near enough (was having too much fun watching them get big ;) but am drying some for later cooking.



These mint leaves are from a plant that my daughter sowed last year…The plant is huge!



I planted both regular and garlic chives…



I guess I wasn’t thinking when I planted all of the herbs in an above-the-ground box rather than in the soil…

Likely they won’t winter over…



So, I am going to try bringing them inside…We’ll see what happens.

Lemon Basil…

AND...

Lavender…



A NEW CELLAR DOOR…

The old one was…Well…Old…

DH did such an awesome job in fabricating this new metal-framed door to take the place of the worn out wooden one. The guys then riveted steel over the frame for a super sturdy door!



MY BOY ACHIEVED HIS BLACK BELT!

With all of the worry about getting video footage for him to review, I didn’t get one still-shot! I can’t actually believe that! I am Mrs. Takes-Pictures-of-Everything!

Anyway…Is this one proud mama? Uh Huh! Elliott’s instructor said that he was one of the fastest ever to go from white to black belt (gloat…;)



A plus for me is that I’m able to learn a little bit here and there, which can really come in handy at work.

DB has a great advantage in that he doesn’t LOOK like he could hurt anyone...

He doesn't have the Arnold look...

Or...

The...

Ape look...



He’s tall, lean, and unassuming. A fourth-degree gentleman that he trains with has the same type of frame. But, don't let outside appearances fool...

They can pack a wallop!

Elliott actually received two Blacks that day…

AND…

I was about three feet from him when he broke the cinder-block slabs…Oh yeah!



YUP…One DOUBLE-PROUD MAMA here!



CHERISH YOUR FAMILY, MY FRIENDS…



We never know...

How long...

They will dwell upon this Earth…

HAVE A PRODUCTIVE WEEK...(And bless someone while you're at it;)